Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Ivanhoe, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Merits of Chivalry
Disguise and Discovery
Inheritance and Displacement
The Vulnerability and Power of Women
History vs. Romance
Summary
Analysis
The field marshals congratulate the Disinherited Knight and ask him to show his face. He politely declines. Used to knights making all sorts of vows, including remaining incognito, the marshals don’t argue. But Prince John, irritated that his champions have been embarrassed in the field, doesn’t share their forgiving attitude. He demands that someone identify the knight. Waldemar Fitzurse guesses that he may be one of Richard I’s companions, recently returned from Palestine. This sparks a rumor that the knight might be King Richard, although Fitzurse points out that he’s far too short and slim to be the king himself.
The Disinherited Knight’s refusal to show his face continues to suggest that he is, in fact, Ivanhoe. And the general acceptance of knights fighting incognito points to the capricious nature of medieval chivalry that might argue against its nobility. At best, disguises, no matter their reason, conceal the truth. Prince John doesn’t care so much about potential dishonesty as he does about asserting his power. In this way, the Disinherited Knight’s disguise becomes not just an act of self-preservation, but also one of defiance against Norman abuses of power.
Themes
During this argument, the marshals escort the Disinherited Knight into Prince John’s presence to receive the prize war-horse and select the Queen of Love and Beauty. Prince John places a green and gold crown on the tip of the knight’s lance, charging him with presenting it to the chosen lady. And if he needs a suggestion, the prince points to Fitzurse’s daughter, Alicia—perhaps to drive from his companions’ minds his recent praise for Rebecca, perhaps to flatter Alicia herself, perhaps so that the Disinherited Knight will anger Fitzurse if he chooses another lady.
Again, in suggesting Alicia, Prince John tries to assert his authority over the tournament as part of his attempt to lay claim to the throne. The Knight’s refusal to play along demonstrates John’s real lack of power, however. It also fails to endear him either to the Saxon population (which might naturally prefer Rowena) or to his advisors.
Themes
The Disinherited Knight rides around the lists, pausing beneath the seats of his most animated admirers—Cedric can hardly stand the excitement of watching so many hated Normans overthrown; Isaac recognizes the horse and armor he took responsibility for when he facilitated its loan for the Palmer and he worries that he will become responsible for its cost. After a moment’s pause, the Disinherited Knight lowers his lance and crowns Rowena. Although some of the Norman ladies mutter to find a Saxon elevated to a position they covet, most of the audience cheers loudly for Rowena.
Isaac provides an important clue to the Disinherited Knight’s identity when he confirms what readers may have already suspected: the Palmer and the Knight are the same man. This moment connects the Disinherited Knight to Rowena, hinting at romantic attachment (again pointing toward Ivanhoe), but it also objectifies feminine beauty, turning it into an arena of contest between men—the Prince who wanted to pick and the victor who gets to.
Themes
Literary Devices
Prince John rides across the lists, pausing to comment loudly about the slight to Alicia in a clumsy (and failed) attempt to ingratiate himself with Fitzurse. Then he addresses Rowena in Norman. Cedric replies in Saxon that she doesn’t understand the language; on behalf of her, himself, and Athelstane, he declines the invitation to dine with the prince that day, as does the Disinherited Knight. Cranky and offended, the prince rides off the lists, venting his ire on the same yeoman archer he exchanged words with earlier. With his departure, the crowds begin to disperse. The Disinherited Knight swiftly retreats to a pavilion offered to him by the field marshals. Here he rests through the night.
Waldemar Fitzurse becomes a deeply ambiguous character in the novel because of moments like this one: John’s overreach offends Fitzurse’s natural sense of aristocratic values, but although he chides the prince publicly, his craven desire for power overrules his better judgment and keeps him in league with this deeply flawed and ignoble man. On the other hand, Cedric’s outright rejection of John’s company emphasizes his lack of the real power and charisma necessary to unite the Saxons and the Normans.
Themes
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